10.3.2 - How To use Amazon Underground instead of App Store + Shopping.

Why? Amazon Underground is a new app from Amazon, which combines Apps and Shopping in ONE app! Amazon's service is actually pretty useful on BlackBerry 10, but having two separate apps to me feels really pointless.
As an added Bonus, the Underground App is much faster than the two other apps and it is also the new place where you can find Amazon's Free App Promotions.

So follow these steps to disable the built-in Amazon apps, and enable only Underground.
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Now you end up with two Apps: Appstore and Underground. However following this method only Underground will be Active. It will give notifications for App updates as well. You will never need/use the Appstore app, so just bury it in some folder.

As for a list of Promoted apps: I'm not actually sure... I'm sure there was a Banner before, but right now it seems they are just mixed within the regular Paid apps. It's not all apps that are free, just from certain developers that have been invited to the program.

Great just removed the Amazon stuff. I'm keeping it down to 3 appstores at the moment. SNAP, BB World and F-Droid.

I have downloaded some fun and free apps from the Amazon Store but for the most it's getting trashed with bad and fake apps. For example fake apps for YouTube and Instagram which not seem to be get removed by Amazon.

You know that the apps aren't free with Underground, right ? You pay for it by letting Amazon collecting a LOT of personal data... without the possibility to disable it.

Don't spread false information. You can turn off Data Collecting from the Amazon App settings, and these settings already exist in the regular Amazon App store as well, it is not something New they created for Underground.
They are just letting us know what type of information they actually use (e.g. app usage times), I for one think that kind of transparency is good!

Data Collection from Amazon is definitely something you can disable if you so choose.

Originally Posted by Rustybronco

Although not what you originally intended this post to be about, it sure looks like an elegant way to disable the Amazon app store.

Thanks, I hoped someone would notice that as well, if you just skip the Underground Part this is a good way to make sure Amazon ends up completely disabled.

Don't spread false information. You can turn off Data Collecting from the Amazon App settings, and these settings already exist in the regular Amazon App store as well, it is not something New they created for Underground.

You've mistaken. The apps offered free in Amazon Underground aren't free. You give the right to Amazon to collect a lot of data. If you disable the collecting, you have a message telling you that all the "free" apps you downloaded will be deleted.
It's the way Amazon Underground works to offer you these paying apps without asking you for money... "The company has worked with developers and will be paying them per minute of play in order to have the developers waive the normal fees. "

And you can disable the outrageous permissions with another app ; never the less, the data collected on your apps usage will still be sent to Amazon.

I never said you could keep using the Promoted apps (better to call them that instead of Free), it is your choice. Want them for Free, 'pay' with your ap usage data. Want privacy then you CAN disable the Data Collection but you give up on the deals.

I don't think many of us use those Promoted Amazon apps anyway, and for the regular Paid/Free apps this works fine. And like I mentioned, the Old app does the exact same data collecting.

Then of course there is the fact that they NEED to ask for all those broad permissions for basic features. Think of barcode scanning, installing apps in the first place, getting basic device specs. OS permissions are very broad by default, it is not that Amazon actually uses/collects all of the details, but that the OS doesn't allow them to ask for more specific permissions.
(flaw in any OS if you ask me, permissions should be specified per app, but that is another story.)

Not to mention indeed there are 'external' workarounds for disabling permissions from apps like mentioned. If you want you can probably 'cheat' the system.

You've mistaken. The apps offered free in Amazon Underground aren't free. You give the right to Amazon to collect a lot of data. If you disable the collecting, you have a message telling you that all the "free" apps you downloaded will be deleted.

You have to install at least one of the free "Promoted app" from Amazon Underground. Then you got the warning if you try to disable the collecting of personal data in the same store.

You are correct. That is how amazon is paying the developers, on usage time. I downloaded one free app, got that message and promptly deleted the app. Paying $1.99 - $5.00 for an app is cheap compared to the amount of data that Amazon wants to collect for getting one free.

Thank you so much for your method! There were conflicts between the two apps in terms of app authentication (apps wouldn't run since they said I wasn't logged in and would freeze the 10.3 app when I would sign in on there) but thankfully disabling only one (the 10.3 Amazon app), everything runs as good as before!

The Amazon app allows you to use the camera to scan physical bar codes on products to see if they are available on Amazon. Contacts access is for being able to add Amazon customer service to your contacts if you choose and the microphone for the option of voice search in the app itself.

The features offered by the app aren't described very well on the device, or by BlackBerry. I found the reasons for all of the permissions by looking at the description of the app in the Play Store.